The latest figures include 28% who Strongly Approve of the way Trump is performing and 46% who Strongly Disapprove. This gives him a Presidential Approval Index rating of -18.

A San Francisco jury yesterday acquitted Kate Steinle’s killer of murder and manslaughter charges. Her killer is an illegal immigrant and repeat felon deported five times from the United States, and the case had been a focal point in the quest for stemming illegal immigration on the Southern U.S. border.

The Steinle killing inspired “Kate’s Law,” a measure stalled in the Senate that would impose stiff penalties on illegal immigrants deported from the United States who attempt another illegal reentry. San Francisco, a self-declared “sanctuary city,” opposes deportation of these immigrants, but while voters don’t believe sanctuary communities are safe, they’re less enthusiastic about taking legal action against them.

After the House approved Kate’s Law in June and to cut off some funding to cities that protect illegal immigrants, voters strongly supported the former but were closely divided regarding funds for sanctuary cities.

Perhaps in part because of its failure to pass any major legislation, the Republican-led Congress earns its lowest job approval marks this year. Most voters are steadfast in their opinion that the more important job for Congress is passing good laws rather than stopping bad ones.

Meanwhile, voters agree with President Trump that so-called “fake news” is a serious problem in America today. If a Fake News Trophy were to be awarded this year, the winners should be Fox News or CNN depending on which political party you’re in.

Voters see America as a more divided place these days, and Trump supporters overwhelmingly agree with the president that the media is to blame. But Trump opponents just as strongly disagree.

The holiday shopping season is now in high gear, but fewer Americans are concerned that having credit cards tempt people to spend more than they can afford. That doesn’t mean they don’t see the need to cut back on spending though.

Budweiser recently announced plans to send barley seeds, one of the key ingredients in beer, to space to determine if it’s possible to make and drink beer on Mars. But Americans aren’t particularly anxious for a taste of Martian brew.

Some readers wonder how we come up with our job approval ratings for the president since they often don’t show as dramatic a change as some other pollsters do. It depends on how you ask the question and whom you ask.

To get a sense of longer-term job approval trends for the president, Rasmussen Reports compiles our tracking data on a full month-by-month basis.

Rasmussen Reports has been a pioneer in the use of automated telephone polling techniques, but many other firms still utilize their own operator-assisted technology.

Daily tracking results are collected via telephone surveys of 500 likely voters per night and reported on a three-day rolling average basis. To reach those who have abandoned traditional landline telephones, Rasmussen Reports uses an online survey tool to interview randomly selected participants from a demographically diverse panel. The margin of sampling error for the full sample of 1,500 Likely Voters is +/- 2.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.

Rasmussen is a non-partisan polling organization that is based in New Jersey.